24 Mar 2020
Sport England to launch national campaign encouraging people to stay active during lockdown
BY Tom Walker
Sport England will launch a national campaign, encouraging people to stay physically active at their homes during the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) lockdown.
The grassroots body has already compiled a number of tips, advice and suggestions for people to stay active, tailored around the official advice to stay at home and to only go outside for one form of exercise a day.
The advice includes outdoor activity tips, gym-free workouts for the home and fun exercises designed for families with children – such as Disney dance-alongs.
Sport England CEO Tim Hollingsworth says the 'Stay In, Work Out' programme is being launched as it is now "more important than ever" to stay active. It will also include a call for people to post their activities on social media platforms using a #StayInWorkOut hashtag.
"From the Prime Minister down, everyone recognises the vital benefit that being active can have," Hollingsworth said.
"It's not just a means of building and retaining your physical wellbeing, but also crucially it's a way of supporting your mental health and battling back against some of the worst moments of isolation and fear that the coronavirus has instilled in all of us.
"We’re launching our own campaign in the coming days seeking to bring much of that together and showcase some of the ways we know being active in and around the home is possible.
"As many organisations have already introduced daily workout routines over the internet that are proving immensely popular and beneficial, we’re using #StayInWorkOut as a way to help bring some of this together online.
"There are already some brilliant contributions, from parents and kids dancing to our This Girl Can Disney workouts, to people trying yoga from their living room for the first time."
Hollingsworth also referred to a recent YouGov poll, in which two thirds of respondents said that for them sport, and sporting events, play an important role in public life.
Almost half said they thought major sporting events were good for the nation’s spirits.
To view Sport England's advice and tips on keeping active during the lockdown, click here.
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